SATS Peru

Placement organization

Name of organization: SATS Peru
Town/city: Cusco
Country: Peru
Website: http://www.satsperu.com

Name of student: Annekee Steenbergen

Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Travel agent, touroperator
Organization’s activities: SATS Peru is specialized in tailor made programs. Their main objective is to provide a great holiday in Peru and South America tailored to the specific needs of customers against low costs and with a focus on sustainable tourism. SATS Peru offers different programs in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia and expanding with programs to Argentinia and Chile.
Target group of the organization: 65+, Dutch market, American market, retired people
Company culture: There is very informal company culture at SATS Peru, due to the small number of employees. This means for example that I see my coworkers during the weekends, I know the family of the owner pretty well by now, and that there is no dresscode. That doesn’t take away that I have to work hard, and my boss will tell me when something does not live up to her expectations. We are able to seperate our work and private life pretty well.
Number of employees: 5
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Product development
Online Marketing
Brief description of your daily activities: I”m responsible of the development of new products to South America. This means that I write new itineraries to Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentinia and Chile, note down net rates in the system, commision on the rates, research etc. Moreover I’m responsible for keeping up the online marketing; mostly facebook, twitter, pinterest and linkedin.
However, working on the new programs takes up most of my time.
Brief description of your company assignment: I’m writing a marketingplan/evaluation for SATS.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Pilar is a very friendly lady and the communication between us is good. She will check up on me sometimes. Although sometimes I feel like she looks up to European students, and thinks that I know basicly everthing. She gives me a lot of responsibillity concerning the developments of products.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, stress-proof, accurate, take initiative
Additional company requirements for this placement? World press, word, excel
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? company
How did you go to work every day? By foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents:
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 1 month

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? If you know your Spanish is not good enough, it will help you a lot.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 900
Accommodation (monthly): € 200
Local transport (monthly): € 10
General costs of living (monthly): € 100
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? Under the table 300 soles, which is about 100 euros.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I’ve bought a book about Peru before I went here, but you will only really experience the culture when you live here.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Sometimes

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: annekee.steenbergen@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don’t care about to much about the culture difference. Don’t always count on something when they promise or say something. Be flexible
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Many restaurants, bars, clubs, shops, many trips such as kayaking, ziplining, mountainbiking, hiking, massage, movie theatre, ruines, daytrips etc.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link